United
by dd4213
Summary: Weeks after the events of First Class, another threat arrives, forcing Charles and Magneto to team up again. The only way they can win this is together. United.
1. Erik

Author's Note:

This is the first fan fiction I've ever written, so feel free to criticize it as much as you like in the reviews. I've tried writing before but it's never worked out so I figured if I got comments from a stranger it would help. Also, I have no experience with fanfics and I have no idea how long a chapter should be, what I should do (say no copyright infringement intended?), what I can't etc. If you can leave a review that would be really helpful. I wrote this in P.O.V.s, from the perspective of different characters.

This happens a few weeks after the events of X-Men: First Class, except Charles isn't in a wheelchair (AU ish). I'm no expert on the X-Men universe as I've never read the comics and only saw the movies, so forgive me if I make any historical errors. There might be some mild bad language but the furthest we'll go down love lane is some kissing. Anyways, I'll let you start. Hope you enjoy!

**Erik**

Don't think about him, I told myself.

Against my will, my mind drifted. Sand. Sun. Waves. Eventually, as much as I tried to prevent it, the pieces formed together in my mind and eventually settled on a horribly familiar pair of blue eyes. Wide, agonized blue eyes. Blue eyes belonging to my best friend, the one I had possibly killed. It was my fault. All. My. Fault. I shouldn't have deflected that bullet off myself. If it had hit me instead, maybe-

"You don't have to do that to yourself, you know."

The vivid and painful train of thoughts disappeared as my head snapped up, and found myself staring straight at a woman of diamond. Emma Frost. I snatched up my helmet that I had placed on the table and placed it on my head, the heavy metal starting a gradual headache, reminding myself of why I had taken it off in the first place.

"What are you doing here?" I spat, a little more harshly than I intended.

She showed no sign of displeasure, the diamond on her body disappearing and being replaced by normal skin. Ignoring my question, she replied with,

"When you got me from the CIA, you told me that your telepath friend… was gone."

I tensed, knowing what was coming next. I had been mulling it over in my own head for quite some time.

"You said that you hoped I would fill the gap he left. That doesn't seem to be working."

There was no emotion on her face as she said all this, and you would have thought that she didn't care what you were going to say.

I tried to make the words sound right in my head. Even though Frost was the most cold-hearted bitch I had met, she was a valuable ally in the inevitable upcoming war. I decided agreeing was the best option.

"You're right. Did you expect it to?"

There was a pause. "No."

Standing up, she walked out of the hotel room in the hotel that Azazel had teleported us into. We had checked in and booked separate rooms, each with an individual key. I had no idea how she got in, but I was probably so deep in thought I hadn't noticed the door opening. Taking the blasted helmet off my head, I collapsed onto my bed, suddenly noticing the lateness of the hour. Soon, I fell into a fully clothed sleep.

I was woken in the middle of the night by a warm weight pressing on the bed next to me. My eyes immediately shot open as I sat bolt upright, looking at the intruder. Sighing in relief at the familiar blue form of Raven, I closed my eyes briefly.

"Raven, what the hell are you doing here?"

"Oh, Erik, I thought that you wouldn't mind a little bit of company," she said, that mischievous glint in her eye.

"Raven, get out of my bed," I said flatly. I was tired, and she was, what? Six years? Eight? Younger than me.

"But Erik-" she started to protest.

"You're too young!"

"I'm old enough to decide what I want," she said defiantly, staring straight into my green/blue eyes with her strange yellow ones.

"So am I, and I have," I replied before I could stop myself.

She turned her head away abruptly, but not before I caught the hurt on her face. She didn't understand that I loved her, but just not in the same way as she loved me. It was like being in a relationship with your sister. It just felt so wrong.

"Look, Raven, I'm sorry-"

"You don't have to apologize, Erik. I understand."

She got off the bed and started heading towards the door. I made one last attempt.

"Raven-"

"If you don't want me, then fine. Just tell me. There's no need to explain."

Just before she closed the door, she added, "Besides. It's Mystique."

And then the door clicked shut, and she was gone. What was it with her and that stupid name? Groaning, I suddenly realized how cold I was, and pulled a blanket on top of myself. I tried to stay awake and figure out how I could explain to her what I felt without hurting her, but eventually drowsiness overtook me and I fell asleep, dreaming of deep blue eyes and Raven's warm weight next to me.

A/N:

Did you like it? If you've come this far then thank you so much for reading my story. It is my first attempt and I hope it wasn't too bad. Please give me a review, it would really help! Thanks!


	2. Mystique

**Mystique**

As soon as the door clicked shut, the tears welled and spilt over, rolling down my blue cheeks. I leaned against the wall of his room, sliding down the floor and putting my head in my hands. I changed form, feeling the shingles of the new skin slide over me. I would be staying in this body for now. I hoped I could keep it on, for I'd never been a good multitasker and this required concentration.

I remembered the last time in that room, where he had told me that my natural blue form was beautiful. So much for that. Now, he was just admitting it. Admitting that he, like all others, had been repelled by it. I couldn't blame him, of course. It disgusted myself too. But maybe that wasn't the reason?

_Of course that's the reason,_ said the little voice in my head, _there is no other reason._

I had left Charles on that beach. I regretted doing so now, but if I had stayed I would probably have regretted that too. I now knew nothing about his condition. Was he injured? Badly? What happened to all the other mutants who had been with him? Had he even… died?

The thought made me sob harder.

"Rejected, are we?" asked a honey sweet voice.

My head shooting up, I saw nothing. But I knew she was there.

"Get the fuck out of my head," I said flatly.

It was a trick she had stolen off Charles. The ability to manipulate the minds of others to make them think you weren't there. I tried to wipe all the tears off my face and stood up, not willing to show any weakness to this woman I hated. Obeying, I immediately saw her in front of me. She was beautiful.

Wearing a little smile on her red lips that didn't quite reach her icy blue eyes, she looked at me.

"What the hell do you want?"

"You've changed."

I clenched my fist. "So?"

The smile grew into a smirk. "What, uh, happened to your little motto?"

I said nothing and glared.

"What was it again? Oh, right, mutant… and proud?" she mocked, raising her eyebrows.

I wanted to punch her. I really, really, wanted to punch her. Straight in the middle of that perfect smirking face. God, I hated that woman. Every inch of her. From her perfect blonde head to her spiky silver stilettos. But I didn't answer her. There was nothing to say.

"But don't worry," she said with an air of melancholy, looking away, "he did that to me too."

That satisfied me. "Oh? What's this? Love has finally penetrated the your frosty heart?"

She looked at me with a flash of anger crossing her perfect features. I mentally smirked. I had made Emma Frost angry.

"Forgive me for trying to give a hand of friendship."

I gave a little laugh. "You? Friendship? Sounds like the apocalypse is nearing."

She smiled. "Well then. Not friendship. How about… alliance?"

This caught my interest. "Continue."

Even though she didn't show it, I knew she was satisfied.

"I've been talking with the other mutants on our side. Azazel, Angel, Riptide. And they've been getting… uneasy."

I frowned. "How so?"

"That little speech Erik made about us ruling over the humans? That day on the beach?"

I nodded slowly. "And?"

"They've seen nothing done, and they're not very happy about it. They think that we, you included, should do this thing on our own. Without Erik."

"What? How could we?"

She sighed. "Admit it, _Mystique_, he's not going to get over Charles anytime soon. All he's done in the three weeks and a half of leaving that beach is mope about in his room. He's worrying about Charles, and he's blaming himself."

I narrowed my eyes at her. "You've been in his head."

"You believe it too," she said defensively.

"I don't want to leave Erik."

"But it's the only way. The humans are and forever will be scared of us, finding ways to hunt us down. They'll stand together in their fear, uniting to capture, to kill, us! Hell, they might even find a way to get rid of our mutations for good. The only way we can stop this is we come together, and defeat them before they defeat us. We are the future."

I chewed on my lip. She did have a fair point.

"Join us. We'll tell all the other mutants out there too. They'll be willing to join us, with the speeches and acts of rebellion in the right places. You can get to the right places, pretending to be who you want to be. I'll _convince_ the mutants who don't want to join. And then, together, we fight."

"What about Erik?"

She gave a smile that wasn't completely pleasant. "I'll put him to sleep. Temporarily," she added, seeing the look on my face, "just so he can't run off and warn others about the plan."

I still wasn't sure. "Are you sure you won't hurt him?"

She nodded. "Absolutely."

She was convincing. It was a good offer. And she was right, I did believe that Erik would never fully be over Charles. I nodded my head.

"Ok. I'll join you and your little… group."

She smiled at her success. "Friends?"

I shook my head firmly. That's something we'll never be.

"Allies."


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N:_

_Thank you to the four people who reviewed for being so nice and taking the time! Tell me whether you like there the story is going and whether you have any ideas about character interactions/what should happen next._

_Sorry if my updates are really slow but I just moved house and I have no internet so I have to go to my friends house to update, but I swear they will get better soon. Again, thank you so much if you have even bothered to read this far, and please leave me a review!_

**Erik**

I woke up in the middle of the night to raised voices from the other side of the thin wall. Raven was talking with Frost, who was trying to convince Raven to join her in the war. To me, it sounded like pointless rambling, and so it was to my utter horror when Raven agreed, and it took all my willpower not to run out. Then they discussed what they would do with me, followed by a plan to win the war.

I had listened all this time in shocked silence, but as I tried to jump up and tell someone-anyone, about this, Frost noticed me listening in.

"He's been listening this whole time!" I heard her shout, followed by a period of silence when I knew she was alerting the other mutants.

The others arrived on scene soon. Azazel teleported into my room with the rest of them, and we stood there looking at each other for a minute. I wanted to stick with my 'don't kill anyone until you absolutely have to' plan, which would make this hard.

"You know our plan," said Frost, her face stony.

"I'm afraid I do."

"Then I'm afraid I have to change that."

I hit her in the face with half of my metal bedpost, and she collapsed to the ground before the tentacles of her mind could reach mine. I had to suppress a smile. I'd wanted to do that for a long time. But this was not the time. Raven looked like the only one who was reluctant to attack me, and I could see Angel's wings already beginning to unfurl.

Thinking fast, I levitated the fridge into the room, smashing through one wall of plaster on the way. I smoothed it out into a giant metal circle, like a huge shield, to ward off Angel's attack of flaming acid. There was a slight _poof _noise as Azazel teleported behind me, and I ducked at the swing of his fist, instead slamming my metal helmet into his face before he could teleport away again.

The movement took my concentration off the shield and I dropped it just in time for the flaming acid attacks to begin again. I reacted as best I could at the faint hissing noise, but it still scraped my arm, burning into the flesh and drawing out a scream. Meanwhile, Riptide had sent a mini tornado at me, sending me flying into a wall before landing painfully on my back, knocking the air out of me.

Outside, I could hear some commotion at the noise in the room and the three of us froze for a second as someone started banging on the door. I locked the door and jammed a roughly made metal door stopper before it could burst open.

Then, we turned to face each other again, and I heard a voice in my head.

_God, Erik, I'm trying to sleep here! What the hell are you doing?_

**Charles**

I had been lying in bed, almost asleep, when the panic levels from a too familiar mind woke me. The same mind that was responsible for the bullet in my back three and a half weeks ago. I was lucky it had missed my spine.

_God, Erik I'm trying to sleep here! What the hell are you doing? _ I asked, almost annoyed that he disturbed me from my sleep.

_Charles? _Came the surprised reply.

I gave a wry smile. _Well it's certainly not Emma, and how many other telepaths do you know?_

There was a silence for a while, though the emotions radiating off Erik were certainly unpleasant. Fear. Desperation. A leap of faith, and finally, a temporary joy.

_I could do with a little help here, if you don't mind. _

It contained a certain amount of desperation that was carefully hidden.

I frowned. _What's wrong?  
_

I searched around Erik and found the mind of Angel. There was a touch of bitterness there that hadn't been before.

_Angel, what are you doing with Erik?_

I flinched involuntarily at the unfamiliar hate and suspicion of my old student.

_Get out of my head, Charles. It's none of your business._

Then Erik's voice was breaking through again.

_If you don't want me to put the doorknob through Angel's head, then you better stop her from shooting these flaming ball thingies at my face._

_You better have a good reason for this, Erik._

I said as I put Angel to sleep, and I heard a mild crashing noise in return.

_She fell out of the air…_

_Oops._

I could hear a wince from Erik and it drew out my frown again.

_Erik, what's wrong? What happened?_

_Everything's fine._

_No it's not. Tell me what's wrong._

There was a hesitation, which I waited patiently through.

_Charles… they turned on me._

_What? _

I knew my thought was sharp and disbelieving, thinking I must have heard wrong.

_The other mutants. I've been… less than active lately, and they decided I wasn't doing enough, so they turned against me._

_They attacked you?_

_They didn't until I overheard Frost's plans._

_And… what about-_

_Raven joined them._

The pain was evident in his voice, and I didn't push any further.

_So… what are you doing to do now?_

There was another hesitation.

_I guess I'm on my own again. Just like before Cuba._

_Before Cuba, you had a goal. _

_I know their plans. I'll stop them._

_And what are their plans?_

_The same thing I was about to do._

When I tried to interrupt him, he added,

_Not in the way I wanted to do it, though._

_What are they going to do? How did they attack you? Are you hurt?_

_Just read my mind._

I hesitated about breaching someone's privacy, but only for second. A few minutes later, I knew all I had to.

_You can't do this alone._

_Yeah, well, I don't exactly have another choice, do I?_

_You have us._

The words were thought before I could stop them, and I heard the hitched breath in return.

_I'm sure Alex, Hank, and Sean will be so pleased about that, huh?_

_You're injured, you're alone, and you have half a powerful mutant community to stop. I'm sure we can work something out._

_Then what's your great idea?_

_We can meet and discuss what we'll do next._

There was another brief pause.

_Where can we meet?_

_What about here?_

_The mansion?_

_Why not?_

He paused, and I could almost hear the uncertainty in the silence.

_Will I be… allowed there? After what I've done?_

_You, my friend, no matter what on Earth you've done… you will always be welcome at Xavier Mansion._


End file.
